Somerset police captains and union heads pen letter of support for chief on medical leave

Five members of the town police department, including the president of the dispatchers union and the two police captains, issued a signed letter of support for Chief Joseph Ferreira, who reportedly took medical leave two weeks ago after a dispute with town officials.“The employees of the Somerset Police De...

Five members of the town police department, including the president of the dispatchers union and the two police captains, issued a signed letter of support for Chief Joseph Ferreira, who reportedly took medical leave two weeks ago after a dispute with town officials.

“The employees of the Somerset Police Department would like to openly communicate our support for Chief Joseph C. Ferreira, and this letter is meant to be seen as a vote of confidence in the chief and his abilities,” the brief letter reads.

It was signed by Capts. Stephen Moniz and Glenn Neto, Lt. Jeffrey Cote, as president of Local 75 of the supervisors association, Patrolman William Tedford, as president of Local 80 of patrol officers, and dispatcher William Aubin, as president of Local 108 of the dispatchers association.

According to Tedford, union supervisors, patrolmen and dispatchers met Monday night to hold a secret ballot vote so no one would feel “strong-armed” into supporting the vote of confidence. He said the vote was unanimous in support of Ferreira.

A lengthy paragraph in the letter describes the ways in which Ferreira — chief since June 3, 2005, and a sworn member of the force since Aug. 4, 1985 — has advanced the department during his tenure.

It was dated Sept. 1, and sent today to The Herald News and the Board of Selectmen, according to selectmen Chairman Donald Setters.

It followed a memo, dated Aug. 22, to Ferreira from Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell on behalf of the board asking the police chief to submit weekly accounts of his work duties.

The memo referenced Ferreira’s contract and requirements to submit such information to the Board of Selectmen and town administrator.

“I don’t know what prompted the letter to be sent. Under the circumstances, it makes no sense,” Setters said Tuesday about the letter of support. “To my knowledge, no one has ever questioned the chief’s capabilities to run the department.”

Listed under new business on tonight’s Board of Selectmen agenda is a discussion on “Police Department command structure and appointing acting chief, if necessary.”

Moniz, who has been in command of the police department since Ferreira’s sudden leave on Aug. 27, declined to provide an explanation for how the Sept. 1 letter was put together and signed by the five police officials.

“Whatever is on the four corners of the paper, that’s what I’m telling you,” Moniz said.

Moniz said he believes the letter answers the question of what has taken place regarding Ferreira and the Board of Selectmen, adding that any contractual requirements “are between the chief and the Board of Selectmen.”

Several attempts to contact Ferreira for comment were unsuccessful.

Tedford, as president of the rank and file, spoke more expansively than other police officials.

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“We, as department members, felt it was important the people we work for — the citizens of the town — know where the Police Department stands,” he said.

Tedford also offered some insight into how the department has been functioning since Ferreira’s departure.

“I would say that he has trained us well, and citizens are not going to feel any effect in the quality of services,” Tedford said.

He said the information shared about Ferreira’s departure has been “nebulous.”

“That’s not to say he’s not missed while he’s gone,” Tedford quickly added.

He also referenced the “tumult in the town.”

While not stating it specifically, the issues include what Selectmen Scott Lebeau, who was present, and Setters, who was not, described as heated screaming by Ferreira two weeks ago in Luttrell’s office at Town Hall over the work duties cited in the memo.

Setters and Lebeau said the memo was necessary because of the chief’s reputed lack of “accountability.”

In contrast, Selectman Patrick O’Neil, who voted in favor of Ferreira as chief on a 2-1 vote in 2005, said the majority of the selectmen went about this process “in the wrong way.”

Town officials would only speak vaguely — if at all — about why the memo was mailed by Luttrell to Ferreira on the board’s behalf.

They indicated the correspondence came out of an executive session in May shortly after the town election.

Last week, Setters said it was his understanding that Ferreira is not using his accumulated 300 sick days on medical leave; rather, he said the medical issue might be categorized as a work injury, subject to workmen’s compensation.

Efforts to reach Luttrell or Town Counsel Clement Brown during the past week have been unsuccessful.

One other detail Tedford revealed was that Moniz and Neto, the two captains, “were spoken to privately,” and they signed on to the letter of confidence with the three union presidents after the union vote by secret ballot.

He said that explains the gap between the composition of the letter on the Sept. 1 and its receipt by The Herald News at 8:12 a.m. on Tuesday.